Back pain places Payton on sideline at practice

WALTHAM -- Gary Payton missed practice yesterday with what the Celtics called lower back pain. The team should have a better idea today about whether Payton can play tomorrow night against New York at Madison Square Garden. If he can't, coach Doc Rivers plans to start rookie Delonte West in his place.

But Rivers knows better than to count out Payton.

The veteran point guard is known for his ironman consistency. He had a consecutive-game streak end at 305 on Jan. 3 because of a strained left hamstring.

"Gary's back is bothering him," said Rivers. "At his age, that is absolutely a concern. It's been bothering him for about a week or so.

"He rarely sits out a whole practice. He actually tried to run and couldn't. I don't know what to say because it's the first day of treatment. I think it just happened. He's had a herniated disk, but he's always had one."

Rivers takes comfort in the fact that Boston has two healthy backup point guards (West and Marcus Banks), though he does not anticipate Payton missing an extended amount of time. Still, if Rivers had to choose between playing without Payton right now and having Payton healthy for the playoffs, it would be no contest.

"If you gave me my choice of losing home court but having Gary healthy, I'm taking a healthy Gary," said Rivers.

Test those limits
During a practice that lasted approximately an hour and a half, the Celtics focused on more fully integrating Antoine Walker into the offense. "He's doing a good job, but we've been running a lot of limited stuff," said Rivers. "It's worried me at the end of games because we don't have that second and third option in a lot of our sets." . . . Rivers noted that preparation for the playoffs will not begin soon, because he believes home-court advantage could be decided in the last game of the season. "Home court is key for us, especially being so young," said Rivers. "But what's more important for us is to be playing well." . . . Rivers also reacted to the news that Cleveland had fired coach Paul Silas. "Cleveland obviously forgot where they were two years ago before he got there," said Rivers. "I think it's a raw deal. When a team struggles, it's always easy to blame the coach, and I'm no longer buying any Usher albums." Usher is part of the ownership group that recently purchased the Cavaliers.